


Roses don't lie

by little_miss_shinigami (rosexwald)



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Blood and Violence, Child Kanae, Gen, Headcanon, it's sad, it's sad and i don't know why i wrote this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2015-04-18
Packaged: 2018-03-23 14:49:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3772282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosexwald/pseuds/little_miss_shinigami
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Short fic about my headcanon explaining why Kanae speaks to roses. </p><p>Little Kanae is the only survivor when CCG investigators come to annihilate his family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Roses don't lie

❈

Warm, golden sunlight was flickering through the ivy leaves covering wooden garden arbour. In such delightful, sunny day, it would be a shame to stay at home. The sky was clear and blue, birds chirping loudly, bumble bees buzzing as they worked hard, flying around the rose bushes. The boy was sitting on a bench in the arbour, fingers flicking through the pages of a book that rested against his lap. He knew how to read, he was already nine years old after all, but he still liked the best when his mother was reading to him.

But she was busy today. She was often busy, because she was very important. Everyone in his family seemed to be very important and busy, and he was told that one day, when he grows up, he will be important too. Because this ‘business will stay in the family’, that was what father said. He didn’t mind that. Maybe it seemed a little boring, but it was thanks to that why they had such big, pretty house, and why he could have all the books, and pretty clothes, and all the toys he wanted. 

The boy waited for his mother to finish speaking with their guests, so that she can have time to come to the garden and read to him. They often had guests, they also seemed important, and they were discussing many things he didn’t understand. But his parents were always telling him that it’s essential to keep good relationships with important families like theirs. Especially in their situation.

Because when someone was a ghoul, there were kinds of business they couldn’t perform with human businessmans, only with another ghouls. And you never knew when will it happen that your business partner will suddenly stop coming to the meetings…

He understood all of this, knew how important it was. Still, the boy wished his parents had just a little bit more time for him. He closed the book, placing it on the bench beside him, and scrambled to his feet. He knew he shouldn’t interrupt while there was a meeting, but he won’t be bothersome, he will just peek through the glass terrace door inside, to see if this will take much longer.

Being half way along the gravel alley, the boy heard a scream. He froze on the spot, shivering slightly. Everything around him went quiet for a moment, only birds were still chirping softly. But when the scream was heard again, they flew away suddenly, flapping of their wings seemed to pulsate in the boy’s head.

It suddenly got very loud. Voices, screams, breaking glass, so much noise… _What… what is happening…?_

Footsteps. Loud, fast, unfamiliar.

The boy turned around and ran. He ran past the wooden arbour, and having no better idea, he jumped into rose bushes that were growing beside it. His skin was thicker than human’s, so the thorns didn’t even hurt when they scratched across it, leaving no marks. He curled on the ground in between the bushes, glancing up to see how well was he covered, and then went quiet.

Those footsteps were so close, and seemed so loud. Even though he could still hear screams and noises in the house, those footsteps seemed the loudest. Someone was close, so close. The boy covered his mouth with his hand to muffle his heavy breaths. Then he saw feet, and something was placed on the ground. It looked like a metal suitcase…

Mother said they’re called ‘doves’.

They had weapons that could hurt them, and it was their job to do so. How cruel… they were only eating to survive, just like humans ate cows, and pigs, and chickens…

Both feet and the suitcase disappeared after a moment, and the boy found courage to peek from between the bushes. The man wore white coat, and he was tall, dark-haired. He turned around, but wasn’t looking in his direction, that’s when the boy saw his face, he had such strange, almond eyes…

The man touched his ear, and spoke, seeming to be talking to himself. His accent was funny.

“This is rank 1 Washuu. No one in the garden.” he said, and made his way back to the house. _Washuu… such strange name._

After a while, it got quiet.

It was so quiet, not even birds returned to sing.

The boy sighed in relief, he was glad the dove walked away. He wanted to go back to the house, but more doves could be there, so he decided to wait. Once it’s alright to go back, his mother will come find him.

He waited, staying hidden, just in case. After a while, the ground felt cold, so he carefully crawled from behind the rose bushes, and slipped into the wooden arbour. He waited there. _Why does it take so long? Why is no one coming?_ The boy was getting restless, and he wanted this to be over. He wanted mom and dad to come find him, why weren’t they?

The sky turned from blue to orange, and chilly, evening wind carried the smell of blood. For some reason, it made the boy’s eyes well with tears. _Why it smells? Is there food?_ If it was time for dinner, mom and dad should come find him soon, right? Tell him the playtime is over and it’s time to go back. He will probably have to change to sit at the table with everyone, his clothes were stained with dirst and grass…

His nose wrinkled. Smell of blood.

The boy sat in the farthest corner of the arbour, where fishnet-like construction was opening to the back of the garden, and the rose bushes. He pressed his nose there, and started to breathe heavily. _Roses, roses… it smells of roses, only roses._

Not blood. Only roses.

  
He was cold, and tired. Just as tears had a chance to dry on his cheeks, new ones were rolling down his face. It was making his skin damp, and cool air was biting against it. _Why is no one coming? Where is my mom… d-daddy?_

He wanted to sleep, but the ground was hard and cold. He knew there was a nice, big, warm bed in his room, and clean pyjama, and his mother’s kiss goodnight… but he was too scared to go there. If it was alright to come back, mom and dad would come find him…

“Why is no one coming?” this time he said it out loud, just to make the silence less scary. “Maybe they’re looking for me but can’t find me? Maybe I have hidden so well…” he muttered to himself, wondering out loud.

If that was the case, he decided to call out.

“Mummy?” he raised his voice, but it came out a bit hoarse. He tried one more time, “Mummy? Dad?”

Silence. Smell of blood. He turned his head away from it, smelling the roses instead, pretending it’s not there.

By the time morning came, his eyes were stinging, and his voice was nearly lost from calling out the whole night. _What will happen now?_

He reached out with his hand, sneaking it through the space between wooden planks of the arbour, and picked up a red rose from the bush.

“What will happen now?” he asked no one in particular. “Will no one ever come find me?”

“ _It will be alright…_ ” the voice sounded like his own, but was it him who gave the answer? He wasn’t sure. He didn’t know if it will be alright or not, so how could he answer.

His fingers pinched a soft, red petal, and he pulled it off the flower.

_It will be alright._

He pulled off another petal.

_It won’t._

Another.

_It will be alright._

Another.

_It won’t._

Petals were falling onto his lap, and the ground around him, and with each one, was he was asking the question, hoping for an answer.

The last one.

_It will be alright._

That was good, right? Can roses lie?

He didn’t think so.

❈

He heard that Germany is famous from its beer. Shame that the same couldn’t be said about coffee. It was fifth coffee shop he was trying since he got there, and once again the coffee was tasting barely decent. And right now he really needed a good, strong cup of fucking coffee.

Rubbing the bridge of his nose with the two of his fingers, he sighed deeply. This was nightmare. When he received this promotion, he was so full of himself, and now… well, now he had to deal with shit. He was here only on behalf of his boss, he was his representative for Western Europe, but the contract the Tsukiyama Company were about to sign to create a German branch was meant to be a big one. And he was trusted with taking care of this…

Well, it wasn’t his fault that everything went to hell, now was it? So why was he so fucking scared to call his boss…? It had to be done at some point, he will have to come back to Japan after all, he needed to inform his boss what happened.

Paying for the awful coffee, he stepped out of the shop, and walked around the corner to find some isolated, more or less private place to make a phone call. His fingers were shaking while dialing. It wasn’t that he was so scared of his boss, after all, the fact that the contract will not be finalized was not his fault. But to think that the doves can touch just everyone, even such respectable family… Fucking white coats, always had their ways of finding out.

“Sir…” he spoke up as the phone was picked up on the other side, “Does japanese news say anything about Germany?”

He went silent as his boss was speaking right into his ear.

“It’s all over news here…” he looked around, covering his mouth and the phone’s speaker with his curled palm, “Doves got them… R-Roswalds, sir.”

The voice on the other side started nearly shouting. He flinched as it unpleasantly rang in his ear.

“Two days ago. I know… I know, I am shocked too. They massacred them in their own house. It’s all over news… Herr and Frau Roswald, his brother too, and two sons.”

Longer pause.

“Huh? What do you mean three?”

❈

God, he was only a representative, why did he have to be there? His face went pale as he got closer to the main gate, he could smell the blood from here already. If anyone survived, he doubted they would still be here, but nonetheless, he was ordered to check. Fuck this honour code or whatever, his boss was way too conservative about things like this… They were just another rich family, that’s all. It’s not like Tsukiyamas owed them anything.

The house was empty, and it was a mess. Bodies long gone, most likely taken by the doves to make quinques out of them. That was so fucking morbid. But the floors were covered with almost ankle-deep layer of blood, leaves and flower petals drifting in it, brought inside through the empty spaces in the window frames. Such mess… they must have been fighting back quite hard.

At this sight, he completely lost hope that anyone survived here, no matter what they said in the news about victims. He searched on both floors, it took him over an hour, the house was huge. But there was no one. Finally the smell was too much for him, and he gladly step out on the terrace, and into the garden, breathing in the fresh air.

With another deep breath, he smelled something else.

Sweat, fear, urine… Shit, was someone really still hiding here?

Once he found him, he had to look away or a moment. He was a grown ass man, and yet, he had to fucking look away not to cry. It was just a kid. Just a kid…

The boy’s face was reddened and puffed, cheeks stained with tears, eyes half-lidded and tired. Violet hair clinging to his damp, dirty skin, clothes were filthy, dark stain between his legs… He was clutching a rose in his hand, so tightly that if he was a human, thorns would pierce the skin of his palm. The kid started crying when he saw him, shaking like a leaf. He blinked his eyes and showed him his kakugan to let him know that he has nothing to fear, that he’s not a dove. It seemed to calm him down a bit.

“Wo ist meine mama?” the boy asked in between sobs.

Shit. What the fuck do you say in a situation like this?

He turned around, fishing his phone out of his pocket, and dialed a number.

“Sir… yes… yes… It’s the kid.” he said, pressing his hand to his forehead with a tired sigh.

Glancing back at the boy, he spoke to him this time, “Wie alt bist du?”

The boy’s breath hitched at that. His accent was funny too, just like the dove’s that was here before. But he wasn’t a dove, he showed him the eyes. He looked at his rose briefly before answering, “Neun jahre…”

“He’s nine.” the man’s words were once again spoken into the phone. The boy couldn’t understand what he was saying.

“Fine. Yes, I understand… yes.” he hung up, and let out another irritated sigh before turning to look at the boy. He will have to deal with this somehow. This was not a part of his contract when he was getting the promotion…

“Wo ist meine mama?” the boy repeated his previous question. The fuck he was supposed to say to that. The kid was nine, for God’s sake.

“You’re nine, huh? Quite a big boy you are already, aren’t you?” he spoke in a bit broken German. The kid only nodded.

“So you know who doves are right?” Again, a nod.

“You hid here because they came, right?”

Nod.

“You know… once a ghoul meets with a dove… usually only one of them walks away after. Did your parents came here to find you after the doves came?” This was the worst way of saying this, and he knew it even when he was speaking, but he wasn’t a fucking baby sitter, he didn’t know how to say such things to a child, even being it a ghoul child.

“No…” the boy’s answer shook him out of those thoughts.

“Did you see the doves walking away?”

“Yes.”

Silence that fell between them was heavy, and they both meant to remember it for the rest of their lives. It was a moment of realization, of truth, of abandoned hope. The boy started crying. So loud, so much, it seemed that he will suffocate. The man didn’t know what to do with this.

_No one will come._

He wrapped his arm around the kid, his other hand hooking underneath his knees, and he scooted him up in his arms. The boy was still sobbing loudly, now right next to his ear. When they entered the house, the man pressed the boy’s head against his shoulder, whispering to him not to look. But he knew he can smell it, all the blood.

He found a suitcase and packed the kid’s clothes at random, he was no baby sitter to be taking care of this.

❈

The boy wasn’t speaking at all. Not the he minded it, because the talk they had in the garden was too fucking much for him anyway. It was better that he was silent now. It was making it easier. But still… it took him a week to sort out fake documents so they could leave the country, and the kid didn’t say a word for this whole time.

Only once they were sitting in a plane he finally spoke up, although so quiet that it was barely audible.

“Where are we going?”

Alright, this question was much easier to answer that all of those before.

“Somewhere safe.” the man said, pondering how to form his words not to make the boy burst into tears again. Last thing he needed was him throwing a hysteric tantrum during sixteen hours long flight.

“Your parents have… had a big company, you know right?”

The kid nodded, his eyes already glassy.

“Well, I work for someone who has a company like that. So… he knew your parents, they were friends, you can say. They liked each other. And, my boss heard… heard that you’re alone now. So he asked me to take you to him, so you can live in their house. It’s safe there, doves won’t find you.”

He was ready for the boy to start crying, because his choice of words was a fucking disaster. Past tense, and he mentioned doves… God, why did he have to be such an idiot? But the kid only stared at him, then nodded, and turned his head to look out of the window, at clouds below them.

“Maybe you remember him?” the man attempted to somehow cheer the kid up, make sure he won’t be scared. Why did he care? He didn’t know, he wasn’t soft or anything… but the kid was fucking nine years old, and this house was drenched in blood…Even he was still seeing it in his dreams.

“He visited your parents last year. Do you… do you remember? He looks like me, and-”

“Talks funny.” the boy finished the sentence, nodding slightly. He remembered someone like that. So it was true, he knew his parents… so it will be alright, yes? He didn’t have anyone to ask, and so he was left with no answer.

❈

This house was even bigger than his, very pretty. He could smell flowers, and it made him less nervous. So there was a garden… What a relief. But that was the only thing that was nice. Apart from that everything was scary. He didn’t understand what anyone was saying, people were talking to him, but he didn’t know what, and the man that brought him here left already, and he was the one that spoke to him like he understood.

He was shown a bedroom, was it supposed to be his room now? He didn’t understand.

A woman brushed his hair away from his forehead, smiling at him, her touch was gentle. Did she know his mummy? He didn’t understand.

He was left alone in the room. Was he supposed to wait for something? Could he go out if he wanted? He didn’t understand.

Looking out of the window, he saw the garden. He wondered if roses were there… He wondered how to say ‘rose’ in this funny language, so that he can ask. He decided to go see for himself.

This house was so big, he wandered around for a while before he found the exit, glass door to the terrace, just like in his house. Something in his chest clenched at that thought, but it wasn’t his house, doves were not here, so there was nothing to be scared of. It’s safe here, the man that found him in the garden arbour said so.

He slipped outside, walking along the graveled alleys slowly, before he finally found rose bushes. What a relief. Finally he could talk to someone that will understand him.

❈

“Mother, I only took one semester of German at school, I can barely speak.”

“Well it’s still better than nothing. The teacher won’t come here before Monday, and this is just a little child. We can’t just leave him like this, we’re strangers to him, and he’s in foreign country. Go talk to him, tell him he’s safe.”

“But I…”

“Shuu, he lost his family not even two weeks ago. Show some compassion, did I raise you to be such a brat?”

“Fine.”

Shuu found him in the garden, sitting on the bench. His feet were dangling in the air, and he seemed to be muttering something to himself, holding a flower that he picked from a bush. The kid looked at him with wide eyes as he approached him.

“Hallo.” Shuu said, with the calmest smile he could manage.

The boy glanced at the strange man, scanning him from head to toe. He was so tall and pretty, he had funny eyes too.

“Servus.” the boy answered quietly. He hoped the pretty man can speak so he understands.

“Ich heiße Shuu Tsukiyama. Um… du bist… hier… geschützt….” the other said, carefully choosing his words. Shuu Tsukiyama… why does everyone have such weird names? Obviously he didn’t speak German very well, but it was still better than nothing. He understood, so it was good. And he told him he is safe, that was good, right?

“Danke.” the boy mumbled, averting his eyes back to his rose.

“Keine sorge… wirst du lernen… um, zu sprechen.” Oh, so they’re going to teach him how to speak this funny? It sounded hard, but he didn’t want not to understand all the time.

“Danke.”

He felt a hand being placed on his shoulder, and he winced slightly. Stroking the rose with his fingers he anxiously looked up at the other, for some reason he wanted to cry again. For some reason it felt unpleasant when someone was so close.

“Magst du Blumen?”

“Die Rosen.”

“Rosen sind die schönsten.”

He was nice. He thought roses were pretty too. Shuu Tsukiyama… he must remember the name, to tell the roses later, ask them if he is alright, if he can be trusted.

Soon the boy was left alone again. Shuu Tsukiyama seemed a little annoyed that he didn’t know enough words to talk to him. Well, there is no need to worry, he will learn to speak funny, and then they can talk again.

His fingers pinched the rose petal, and he pulled it off.

_It will be alright._

Another petal.

_It won’t._

Another.

_It will be alright._

Another.

_It won’t._

Red petals were falling on the gravel below, until the last one was left.

_It will be alright._

The boy smiled faintly. Rosen lügen nicht.

Roses don’t lie.

 

**Author's Note:**

> if you wonder, the ghoul working for Tsukiyamas who found Kanae is just some random OC i came up with for this fic.  
> he's pretty cool though, i grew to like him.
> 
> also i am aware Shuu's German is shit, that's the point.


End file.
